LONG BEACH – With many of the usual Inland-area suspects not playing for a CIF-SS divisional championship this weekend, Monday’s 41st Annual CIF-SS Football Championship Press Conference and Luncheon was a showcase for up-and-coming Inland football programs.

Held at The Grand in Long Beach, Murrieta Valley, Norte Vista, San Gorgonio, Aquinas, Valley View and Rancho Christian were among the 26 teams on hand to celebrate making the championship round, which kicks off Friday night with seven divisional championships and concludes with six games Saturday night. The finale between Mater Dei and St. John Bosco for the Division 1 crown kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Angel Stadium.

The first year of the CIF-SS competitive equity format has changed the playoff brackets and opened up more opportunity for football programs throughout Southern California.

Of the six Inland teams playing for championships, five have never won a title in football. Aquinas won its last title in 2005.

The most intriguing of playoff opportunities comes from Valley View coach Dan Barlage, who during a previous seven-year stint as coach, took the unseeded Eagles to the Division 5 championship in 2001 – their first and only championship game appearance in school history.

Valley View had a great run during the 2001 season, but fell to JW North, 21-17, in the final. Two years later, Barlage was let go.

Barlage, who teaches history at Valley View, went on to be the offensive line coach at Riverside City College until returning to coach the Eagles in 2015.

After a second-place finish in the Inland Valley League, the Eagles (10-3) earned a first-round upset of second-seeded Culver City and then wins against Rancho Alamitos and Montebello. The Eagles are playing again for a championship – this time the Division 11 title.

“It's pretty special,” Barlage said. “It’s really special for the guys on this team.

“To be honest, I'm just trying to stay in the moment and help our guys get better every day so we can be successful this time.”

Murrieta Valley, which won the Southwestern League outright for the first time since 2002, survived a gantlet of playoff teams – St. Bonaventure, Norco and La Habra – to host San Clemente for the Division 2 championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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